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Change in Clay's adult entertainment ban to get another look

The Rev. Mark Sellers, pastor of Middleburg’s Christian Faith Center, was one of many clergy who spoke before Tuesday's Clay County Commission meeting in opposition to any changes in laws that would allow sex shops of any kind in the county.

A recommendation to amend Clay County’s land-use code to permit adult entertainment stores only in specific zoning districts was dropped Tuesday after the County Commission got an earful from a dozen opponents to keep their county clean.

All five commissioners voted to seek outside legal help to revise a long-standing ordinance banning any adult stores so it could stand up to legal challenges some predict are coming.

The unanimous vote followed 30 minutes of public comment. Resident Joe Padgett said almost everyone seated behind him was in opposition to any law that allowed sex shops in the county.

“It will destroy the community. It will destroy our children,” Padgett said.

Church pastors in opposition included the Rev. Jerry Thrower, head of Orange Park’s Celebration Church. He said devising a new ordinance would put the county on a “slippery slope” that it doesn’t need.

“These adult sex stores will lead our community and our county into a downward spiral and even further decadence and degradation that we don’t need,” Thrower said. “We will be praying that you make the right decision.”

Clay County doesn’t have any adult book stores, arcades, theaters or novelty shops due to a 1985 ordinance that essentially bans them. But after an Oct. 21 telephone inquiry from a Jacksonville Beach real estate brokerage firm asking about which Clay zoning districts would allow adult stores, the commission decided to clarify the issue. That resulted in a Nov. 4 recommendation from the commission’s Economic Development Committee that county staff draft a change to permit adult entertainment but restrict them to areas zoned for heavy industrial or heavy commercial use.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, County Attorney Mark Scruby said adult entertainment businesses are considered protected speech under the First Amendment. That makes it a very difficult matter to legally oppose. He said he spoke with legal experts who had addressed the problem in their communities by finding legal ways to restrict where they could operate away from churches, schools and neighborhoods.

Scruby also said the 1985 ordinance would probably be declared unconstitutional if any legal action were taken against it, leaving Clay County with nothing to control where a sex shop might locate.

Some commissioners said the 1985 law had worked fine until now and urged caution in how the county proceeds with any changes or new rules. Then came the public opposition to any new ordinance. Many pastors said any change was “just wrong,” while the Rev. Mark Sellers, pastor of Middleburg’s Christian Faith Center, said he prays the commission makes the right decision.

In the end, the commission voted to have Scruby and county staff work with constitutional law experts to review the existing ordinance and rework it so it can legally restrict sex shops. The revision should be ready within 30 days for discussion at a December commission meeting.